1. Helping Consumers Avoid Internet Fraud
PHISHING & PHARMING
http://www.bankonline.com/checking
http://www.bankonline.com/checking
http://www.bankonline.com/checking
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

2. Gone are the days when we had to step outside to purchase our
groceries, book flights and vacations, rent or purchase cars, or just
transfer money between bank accounts. Today, we can simply grab
our checkbooks, debit cards or credit cards, sit down at a computer
in the comfort and safety of our home, and complete these
transactions with passwords and PIN numbers. Thanks to advances
in technology, the types of transactions we can now complete
online are virtually endless.
Unfortunately, the increase in online transactions has been
accompanied by an increase in online identity theft. Fraudulent
access to personal information over the Internet is increasingly
prevalent and sophisticated. Two forms of identity theft are at the
forefront of this Internet piracy: PHISHING and PHARMING.
http://www.bankonline.comgo

3. Alice Jackson34 Rosemary St.Jamaica Plain, MA
02130
The United States of America
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Bank Card
Debit Card
Notes
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Pay to the Order of:
Identity theft is a federal crime. It occurs when one person’s
identification (which can include name, social security number,
bank account number, or any other account number) is used or
transferred by another person for unlawful activities.
PHISHING is a form of online identity theft that lures consumers
into divulging their personal financial information to fraudulent web
sites, also known as spoofed web sites. For example, the phisher
sends an email message to an unsuspecting victim instructing him
to click on the link to a bank’s web site (provided in the email) to
confirm his account information. Unbeknownst to the consumer,
the web site is a convincing fake or copy of the authentic web site.
The unsuspecting customer takes the bait and provides the
information, thereby enabling the phisher to steal his personal
THE CRIME

4. http://www.bankonline.com/checking
financial information. The phisher can then use this information
to clean out the victim’s bank accounts or commit other forms of
identity theft.
PHARMING is similar to phishing but more sophisticated. Pharmers
also send emails. The consumer, however, can be duped by the
pharmer without even opening an email attachment. The consumer
compromises his personal financial information simply by opening
the email message. The pharming email message contains a virus
(or Trojan horse) that installs a small software program on the
user’s computer. Subsequently, when the consumer tries to visit
an official web site, the pharmer’s software program redirects the
browser to the pharmer’s fake version of the web site. In this way,
the pharmer is able to capture the personal financial information

5. THE SOLUTION
that the consumer enters into the counterfeit web site, and the
consumer’s account is again compromised.
The latest form of pharming does not require email at all. Password-
stealing Trojan horses can attack through Microsoft Messenger®
where keyloggers are run. Keyloggers are viruses that track a user’s
keystrokes on legitimate sites and steal passwords, allowing a thief
to have access to a consumer’s password for future fraudulent
transactions.
Consumer awareness is the key to avoid falling prey to phishers and
pharmers. Ask representatives of your financial institution if they
have implemented any special software to thwart off these identity
thieves. Inquire as to whether your home PC software provider
http://www.bankonline.com/checking

6. offers any updated anti-phishing programs. In addition, the Anti-
Phishing Working Group (an association focused on eliminating the
fraud and identity theft that result from phishing, pharming, and
email spoofing) offers the following suggestions to avoid falling
victim to an Internet scheme:
• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal
financial information.
• Do not use the links in an email to get to any web page.
• Avoid completing forms in email messages that ask for
personal financial information.
• Be sure to use a secure web site when submitting credit card
or other sensitive information via the web browser.
• Consider installing a web browser tool bar for protection
from known phishing fraud web sites.
http://www.bankonline.com/checking

7. • Regularly log on to online accounts.
• Regularly check bank, credit card, and debit card
statements to ensure all transactions are legitimate.
• Make sure your browser is up to date and security patches
are applied.
Be vigilant about protecting yourself from these newer
forms of identity theft. When turning on your home com-
puter to complete seemingly simple transactions, keep your
eyes and ears open to avoid financial and emotional distress.
If you have received a spoofed email message or believe
that you have been a victim of phishing or pharming, there
are steps you can take to help shut down the phisher,
pharmer, or spoofer:
• Forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at
spam@uce.gov
• Forward the email to the “abuse” email address at the
company that is being spoofed (e.g. spoof@ebay.com )
• Notify the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) of
the FBI by filing a complaint on the IFCC’s web site:
www.ifccfbi.gov
When forwarding email, always include the entire original email.
For more information, including a brochure on Identity
Theft, see http://www.bos.frb.org/consumer. An article
on Phishing and Pharming appears at http://www.bos.frb.
org/commdev/c&b/2005/fall/phishpharm.pdf.

8. Sources
US Netizen (2005), “A New Security Threat – Pharming,” http://www.usnetizen.com/articles/pharming.html
Jane Larson, “ ‘Pharmers’ hit online bank users with fraud scam,” The Arizona Republic, April 26, 2005.
For more information, visit www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html
Written by Dawn Hicks. Illustrations by Nina Frenkel.